This essay outlines how Black placemaking, a sociological framework used to study Black residents in urban contexts, might be used to study Black students' experiences at historically White institutions (HWIs) of higher education. Black placemaking engages with the intersection of Blackness, place, structure, and agency. The author argues that…

In 2011, David Willetts issued a White Paper with the title "Students at the Heart of the System". In 2011 the headlines were, inevitably, about the new tuition fee regime which, it was hoped, would change the thinking of university leaders so that they focussed less on research excellence and more on the needs and aspirations of…

Simon Sinek, founder of Start With Why, is an unshakable optimist. He is a trained ethnographer and author of three books. Fascinated by the leaders who make the greatest impact in their organizations and in the world, he has discovered some remarkable patterns about how they think, act, and communicate, as well as about the environments these…

What is known about college students' search for purpose more than ever before due to the scholarly attention devoted to purpose development over the past two decades. This growing research on purpose increasingly makes it clear, as Tim Clydesdale ( 2015 ) writes, that when colleges "launch sustained conversations with students about…

Adrianna Kezar recently sat down with Chancellor Tim White of the California State University system to discuss, among many other things, the newly released California State Graduation Initiative and what it will take to enact it. The key commitments of the initiative are: (1) hire more tenure-track faculty; (2) develop engaged advising; (3) solve…

This article is an adaptation of the keynote presentation from the NACADA Annual Conference (Minneapolis, MN, October 9, 2014), that was given by Terrell Strayhorn, a professor of Higher Education at The Ohio State University and the director of the Center for Higher Education Enterprise (CHEE). CHEE is a new research and policy center that aims…

While interest in the voice of children and young people has grown alongside concern for their rights and participation, for those excluded from mainstream education or with a label of behavioural, emotional and social difficulties, the issue of student voice takes on particular relevance. Yet the voices of these young people, and particularly…

Three decades of neo-liberal education in western countries, particularly English-speaking countries, have not served most children well. The evidence is mounting that the neo-liberal experiment has been a failure on many grounds, not least because of its deprofessionalizing effect on teachers. The disciplinary effects of neo-liberal policy…

School is sometimes framed as a place for preparing, a place for becoming college and career ready. At times this approach positions school as an important space "within" the world of college and careers, envisioned perhaps as Dewey imagined it, as a safe place to try things, a space where real work of participation in society could be done but in…

Recounts an incident in an Arizona high school where a student made a miraculous recovery from a near-death incident. Despite negative predictions from the treating physicians, the student leads a normal life again. (MD)

Discusses the symptoms, causes, effects, and treatment of school phobia. (CM)

Analyzes the concept of freedom. Evaluates progressive, libertarian, and essentialist views of student freedom and discusses their weaknesses. Attempts to resolve the problems raised by placing freedom within the context of authority and considers implications for educational policy and practice. (AYC)

Recent reports on the state of education in the United States suffer from a major flaw: They focus on the externals and ignore the students. If the output of schools is student learning, as it should be, then their organization, staff, and curriculum must be geared to increase student productivity. (Author/GC)

In describing the Spartans of ancient Greece, this writer makes a parallel with the problems of high school students today and asks principals to be understanding. (Author/LD)

Addressing recent criticism of distance education, explores the distinctive hidden curriculum (supposed "real" agenda) of distance education, focusing on both its positive and negative expressions. Also offers an updated view of the hidden curriculum of traditional, campus-based education, grounded in an emerging worldwide context of broadening…